The things that you are ready to sacrifice or give up will determine what will come into your life

Peace to you, dear children of God!

This is the day the Lord has made. He tells us to rejoice and be glad today. I pray that this day overflows with the peace of God and blessings in all your undertakings. 

Continuing the overview of the life of Abraham, I would like us to look at another principle that became a source of many of God’s blessings for Abraham.

This principle says: the things that you are ready to sacrifice or give up will determine what will come into your life. The things you are ready to part with will determine what will come into your life. 
Yesterday we saw that God had asked Abram to leave his country, his father’s house and his relatives and to go to the land that He would show.

“Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis, 12:1).

Abram was ready to obey God, so God was able to bless him abundantly. Abram was prepared to part with his country, and God gave him a much better land. The very thing you are ready to part with will determine what is going to come into your life.
Talking about this principle, Jesus said that everyone that is ready to forsake his life will gain it, but the one who holds on to his life will lose it.

„For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Mathew, 16:25).

Jesus repeated this truth in John (12:24), saying:

 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it producēs much grain.”

The idea of this verse is extremely important. Abram lived in accordance with this principle, and that is why God could bless him.
When we look at Abram’s life, we see that he was not holding on to anything and was not attached to anything except God. Abram held onto God alone, and it was proof of his faith and trust in God.
I would like you to notice several moments in the life of Abram and see how he followed this principle:

• When God told Abram to leave his house, his relatives and his city, he did it right away (Genesis, 12: 1-4).
• Further, in chapter 13 of Genesis, we find that there was a disagreement between Abram’s and Lot’s servants, and because of it Abram and Lot had to part ways. Abram let Lot pick a piece of land. Lot chose apparently better pastures, leaving Abram a land that was worse. (Genesis, 13: 8-12).
• In Genesis 14, we read that Lot and his household were taken captive. It was Abram and his people that went to deliver Lot. When Abram succeeded, he refused to accept any goods of the defeated kings, besides what belonged to him and Lot. Abram believed that God was able to provide for him and make him prosperous, because Abram had complete trust in the Lord. (Genesis, 14: 21-24).
• Returning from war, Abram met the priest of the Most High God to whom he gave the tithe of everything he had. And it happened long before God had established the law of tithing (Genesis, 14: 17-20).

Abram was a very generous man who was always ready to part with his earthly possessions. That is why God blessed him abundantly.
The Bible says that Abram lived on this earth as a foreigner (Hebrews 11:9–10). He had a stronger connection with heaven than with the earth, and for this reason he was not attached to anything or anybody on this earth and God could bless him.
Dear friend, God wants to tell you that if you desire for God to bless you, you must be ready to part with all the things that God will point out. If you let this principle penetrate your heart, if you start living according to it and are generous, then God will surely bless you.

Until tomorrow!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboye